Law enforcement heads talk Cherryville scandal

As the allegations of misuse of power by law enforcement officers rock the town of Cherryville, other law enforcement agencies can feel the repercussions.

Rebecca Clark

As the allegations of misuse of power by law enforcement officers rock the town of Cherryville, other law enforcement agencies can feel the repercussions.

Federal agents accuse six men - four with ties to law enforcement - of providing protection to a criminal enterprise involved in moving stolen goods through the county by tractor-trailers. But instead of rogue truckers, the purported criminals were undercover agents working in a sting they titled “Operation Blue Crush,” according to court records and testimony.

Local police say, although the alleged crimes happened in another county, it casts suspicion on every agency.

Leaders of the county's four law enforcement agencies weighed in with their thoughts Tuesday.

Dirty cops

The six Cherryville men took bribes, helped transport stolen goods and extorted money in a multi-state operation that raked in at least $750,000, according to federal indictments.

One of men said to be involved, Wesley Clayton Golden, 39, served as a reserve officer with the Gaston County Sheriff's Office.

Three others - Frankie Dellinger, 40, Casey Justin Crawford, 32, and David Paul Mauney III, 23 - had ties to Cherryville Police. Dellinger worked as a reserve officer, while Crawford and Mauney both worked as patrol officers, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Mark Ray Hoyle, 39, and John Ashley Hendricks, 47, were not associated with law enforcement. Both were recruited into the scheme by other participants, according to indictments.

Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford

Has the Cherryville scandal had a local impact?

"Any time you have something like that it impacts law enforcement everywhere. From a law enforcement perspective, you work hard every day to build trust in the public and build relationships and any time something like this happens it puts a strain on it. Wh en the city goes through something like that. its not just about that city its about the profession."

Ledford said he had not seen a first-hand impact on the Shelby Police Department.

"We've not seen any of that trickle here. You feel for the residents and everybody that's had to deal with that."

How long does it take for an agency to recover?

"I don't know. I believe relationship building is an ongoing process. When you're in public service you're continually trying to build those relationships and build that trust. I don't think you can say it takes X amount of time to build that back."

Can a similar incident be prevented, and if so, how?

"It's like any kind of relationship. You can't get complacent and you can't take it for granted.

It's impossible to take human error out, but I think there's a lot of things that law enforcement does to reduce the likelihood."

Ledford said that includes extensive background checks and being vigilant during the hiring process.

ClevelandCountySheriff Alan Norman

Has the Cherryville scandal had a local impact?

Norman said he personally doesn't see the impact on the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.

"It's in another county, two separate agencies," he said. " It brings a lot of disappointment to see another law enforcement officer arrested for a crime. It's alarming, it is disappointing...At the end of the day we're held to a higher standard."

How long does it take for an agency to recover?

"It affects everyone that works at the agency. It takes an undetermined amount of time to put a bad situation behind you. We need to keep in mind there's a lot of good law enforcement officers that are employed by Cherryville police. They need to keep their chin up and continue to do the job they've been doing."

Can a similar incident be prevented, and if so, how?

"For the sheriffs office, when we hire someone they go through an extensive background, psychological and polygraph test. You actually try and weed out the applicants that aren't suitable for law enforcement, whether that be something in psychological or something in a polygraph but nothing is foolproof. Somewhere along the path of those guys' career they chose to dance with the criminal element and got caught."

Norman said observant supervisors can also spot potential problems early on.

Boiling Springs Chief Randy Page

Has the Cherryville scandal had a local impact?

"It kind of is a black eye to the entire law enforcement profession. You do get questions about it. No ones come over and questioned anyone in our agency about it. People come up and want to talk to you about it. Overwhelmingly, the majority of law enforcement officers are honest, good people. I know a couple of officers that work at Cherryville who are good people. It's like a slap in the face for those officers."

How long does it take for an agency to recover?

"I can remember when other things like this occurred at other agencies. It can take years for people to really forget and to mend your ties with the community. It can take years."

Can a similar incident be prevented, and if so, how?

"It's really oversight. Really just making sure you hire people that you do a good background on...and when you see something that's not right you look into it."

No one gets in law enforcement for the money. If you're looking for job with excellent pay you probably need to look somewhere else. If they went into it looking to make money they were in the wrong profession."

Kings Mountain Chief of police Melvin Proctor did not return phone calls in time for the story.

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